I'm going to make my first boat this summer and am debating between the cottage cruiser and the 16' prospector.

I want something that can be a tandem or flipped around and used solo. It would mostly be for day trips, but it would be nice to get some longer ones out of it too. Max weight isn't too big of an issue as I'm a backpacker and my gear is pretty light. I think I want to stay in the 16' or under length, I'm more for maneuverability than straight lines. I did see the comparison chart, the cottage cruiser would be a little less stable, but I'm not too worried about that.

Can anyone tell me a little more about the differences between them (besides 6")? Thanks

Prospectors were designed to carry heavy loads with good manoeverabilty on rivers... the displacement is 420 pounds vs 337 on the Cottage Cruiser (this includes the weight of the canoe). If a Prospector is too lightly loaded (eg. on a day paddle going solo), it can be blown around very easily by wind. Matching the loads you'll be subjecting the canoe to wrt design capacity could be something to influence your decison.

OTOH, if you are planning some long trips with high-volume, heavy loads, there's probably nothing worse than a canoe that's too small, so the greater volume in the Prospector may be worth having for that purpose.

They both have rocker so turning ability shouldn't be a problem. The description says that the CC borrows from the Prospector design, so it may paddle more or less the same, with lighter loads.